


Ever and a Day

by jusrecht



Category: Code Geass
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2065599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusrecht/pseuds/jusrecht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gino and Suzaku after the end of the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever and a Day

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS for the end of R2.

  
“Red always suits you well,” Gino remarked, admiring how the colour trapped showers of sunlight, making the cape look like blazing fire in the ancient furnace of blacksmiths.  
  
Kallen ignored his comment and said instead, frustration sharp in her voice, “How can you wear this _thing_ all the time?”  
  
“Pride.” He grinned and made a show to swish his matching white cape ostentatiously. “After a while, you can’t help but like it, believe me.”  
  
“Yeah, right.”  
  
Despite her many qualms and protests, Kallen was solemn during the ceremony. She knelt in front of her empress and swore fealty to her, vows that would have belonged to someone else had their circumstances been different. Only once her eyes did stray toward Zero, a dark, silent presence standing at the left side of the throne.  
  
“She’s going to be a great knight,” Gino said, lounging on a couch in Zero’s private quarters after the ceremony had ended. The day was waning fast and the televisions were all abuzz with news of the Knight of Two’s accolade. She looked beautiful in a contrast of white and red, the colours matching her steely expression. Next to her, Empress Nunnally sat like a demure little princess, her smile calm and subdued.  
  
“I know.” Zero, _Suzaku_ removed his mask and black cape, squinting at the fading light. “Kallen is fiercely loyal and she will protect Her Majesty well.”  
  
Gino grinned. “Less job for me then.”  
  
Suzaku gave him a pointed look. “You’re the Knight of One.”  
  
“My loyalty happens to lie elsewhere.”  
  
“I thought we weren’t going to talk about this anymore.” There was a hint of coldness in Suzaku’s voice—not his old reserve, not any manner of evasion, but something purely _Zero’s_. Gino could feel his own grin turning to ice in response, a delicate mask over his bitter surprise.  
  
“It’s time for you to accept it,” he said steadily and rose to a sitting position. “I’m here as long as you’re here.”  
  
Annoyance flashed in Suzaku’s eyes. “Don’t be stupid, Gino.”  
  
“I’m stubborn, not stupid.” He met the accusing gaze unblinking. “The question now is: will you accept me?”  
  
Again, there was an alien expression on Suzaku’s face as he stood there in silence, towering over Gino. Then he turned away, his lips twisted into a smirk which balanced the mocking edge in his voice. “Do I have any choice?”  
  
“Don’t.” His gloved hand flinched under Gino’s grip, but the new Knight of One was not about to let go. “Don’t try playing the victim this once. Choose.”  
  
He could see the emotions trapped behind those green eyes, too long hidden behind that accursed mask. Suzaku didn’t move away, but he didn’t back down either. “The answer is no,” his response was sharp, clipped. “I’m not going to subject you to a life behind masks if you can still find happiness out there.”  
  
“Liar.” Gino didn’t grin—couldn’t—and his voice proved far colder than he had intended. “You’re not that altruistic, _Zero_.”  
  
Suzaku narrowed his eyes. “Let go.”  
  
“Then fight me, you’re not much my inferior in strength,” he challenged. “You want to know what I think? I think you’re just scared of falling in love with me.”  
  
“Gino.”  
  
The quiet hiss didn’t deter him from pulling Suzaku closer and secure both arms around his waist. “I’m right, aren’t I?” He looked up, chin pressed against Suzaku’s stomach. “Or maybe you already have and now are just trying to deny it. And run away.”  
  
Even this close, he could not read Suzaku’s expression in the deepening dusk. Gino could only feel those fingers, once so familiar, now trailing over his eyelashes, cheeks, lips, as if to remember a path long forgotten.  
  
“You just won’t stop, will you?”  
  
“No,” he grinned then, relieved and assured both. “Suzaku, I will pry your heart open if I have to. I don’t care about what happened in the past, but you deserve happiness and I’m going to be the one who gives it to you.”  
  
If Suzaku was at all affected by his speech, only his eyes said so, gleaming and dark and more intense than ever. “It’s not going to be easy,” he murmured staidly.  
  
“What? Loving you?” Gino laughed, a sudden brightness free of yester shadows, and pulled the other man into his lap. “Believe me, I’m used to it.”  
  
“It’s not– I...” Suzaku breathed deeply, a soft, shuddering sound, and touched their brows together. “When I said that you deserved better, I meant it.”  
  
Gino shrugged. “Well, I’m sorry. As it turns out, I don’t want anyone better.”  
  
The thin, trailing laugh easily crossed what little distance between their mouths; Gino could feel himself smiling in response. Suzaku was _laughing._  
  
“Because you’re such a stubborn idiot.”  
  
“Because I know what I want,” he corrected, cupping the back of Suzaku’s head. “And when I said that I wanted to make you smile, I meant it too.”  
  
The look on Suzaku’s face was all Gino needed to know that one day, his promise would not just be a promise.  
  
 __ **  
**End  
  



End file.
